Review: Barbarossa & the Retreat to Moscow

Title: Barbarossa & the Retreat to Moscow
Authour: Artem Drabkin
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 978-1-84415-563-7
Stars: 4.5 (out of 5)

Picked this book up at Borders. A little pricey but worth it in the end. I had only glanced at a couple of pages in the store and was impressed w/what I saw and bought the book.
This book is about the Soviet Airforce and what happened to them right at the beginning of the war.......the title of the book says it all.
There are 6 chapters and 4 Appendix in 155 pages. Each chapter covers 1 person. There are 5 pilots and 1 technician whose stories are told from their beginnings in the Airforce, why they joined and their training, right up to the battles of Moscow. They do describe what happens at the end of the war to them too.
All of their stories are told in person, as they survived the war, however some did not see the book published as they had passed on before printing.
A strong feature of the book is the brutal honesty of most of the pilots. They do talk about the Dog Fights and the losses and they do talk about the heavy loss in materials. They also mention the good and the bad of the new airplanes they were receiving....the Mig, Lagg, Yak's. Also they mention what they thought of the Aircobra, Hurricane and P40 planes as part of the Lend Lease. While one pilot loved the Aircobra, another did not. They also talk about their being shot down and of one or two of their "kills".
I wish the book was longer with more interviews, and their are a few photos of which have not been seen before.